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George Russell secured pole position for the 2024 F1 Las Vegas GP with a last-ditch attempt that helped him pull out a lap that was a tenth faster than Carlos Sainz in P2. As is often the case with the track built in the Sin City, it offers far too many surprises. We have an Alpine starting the race in P3 while Sergio Perez would be outside the top 15.
The cold conditions and the dirty track lend themselves to a situation where things could go a few different ways. Getting tires up to a temperature can be tricky and you need a strong car on the straights. You add all that up and you get Mercedes with the ability to fire up the tires better than almost anyone else securing pole position.
At the same time, George Russell's teammate Lewis Hamilton had a disastrous Q3, and as a result, he would be starting the race in P10. With so many fast drivers starting the race out of position, rest assured there's going to be chaos. With that being said, what do we expect from the 2024 F1 Las Vegas GP? Let's take a look.
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#5 We are going to have an action-packed race
A cold track with temperatures in single digits Celsius and the sand from the desert making the conditions even more slippery, leaves a very small margin for error. It is interesting that the qualifying session did not see many drivers going off-track or making mistakes.
There are exceptional cases of what happened to Franco Colapinto or to Lewis Hamilton who made a couple of errors in Q3, but it showed how small the margin of error is. A yellow flag, a safety car, or even a red flag are all in the realms of possibility. It's going to be a chaotic and action-packed event, and just like last year, it has the elements of being one of the best races of the season.
#4 Pierre Gasly does not finish in the top 5
Pierre Gasly stumped everyone in Q3 when he pulled out a stunning lap in qualifying. The Alpine driver would start the race in the top 3 and what makes it even more interesting is that he's shown in the last race as well that the car can fire up the tires quicker than the competition.
That, however, could work against the car in the long run. Cars like the Ferrari, the McLaren, and the Red Bull are just better overall and it would be very hard to hold them back in the F1 Las Vegas GP where there are far too many options to pull off an overtake.
#3 Lando Norris or Max Verstappen could be in the fight for the podium
Looking at the starting grid could be underwhelming when you look at some of the names that are not in the top 3. There's Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and Lewis Hamilton who have probably not qualified in their usual positions for the F1 Las Vegas GP.
The race pace however is more or less in the vicinity for all of them. With the potential for chaos very high in this race, expect the usual suspects to rise compared to others. A podium for Max Verstappen and Lando Norris might not be a big shocker.
#2 Strategy and key decisions could decide the Las Vegas GP race result
One of the biggest things the teams would be worried about is the possibility of a safety car completely flipping the race on its head. We had the same last season and it arguably cost Charles Leclerc the win.
For the 2024 F1 Las Vegas GP, with the conditions that we have and the fact that there are drivers that are out of position, there's a lot at stake when there's an incident.
For the race on Sunday, strategy is going to be the key and so is luck. Sometimes things don't go the way they're supposed to because the timing of a safety car is not suitable. Every driver and team, especially the championship contenders, are going to keep a keen eye on that.
#1 George Russell wins the F1 Las Vegas GP
Despite all of this, there's one thing that's quite clear, George Russell has more or less held the edge over everybody else this race weekend. The driver has been fast but more than that, he's shown an assurance of knowing when to push and when to change up his approach.
The Mercedes has come alive at the F1 Las Vegas GP's cold weather and on Sunday, we might see George combat whatever the race throws at him and secure the win.
